DVD Architect 5. 0 - pause on every chapter

[Sigmund Reboquio]

Hi ,

When I try to play all chapters option on my burned DVD , each time a chapter comes in, the clip has to stop for about 1-2seconds.

Does this happen to you guys?

My workflow:

Add multiple dvd mpgs to project.
make a playlist - to have chapters
then burn to DVD

[Randall Leong]

Originally Posted by Sigmund Reboquio

Hi ,

When I try to play all chapters option on my burned DVD , each time a chapter comes in, the clip has to stop for about 1-2seconds.

Does this happen to you guys?

My workflow:

Add multiple dvd mpgs to project.
make a playlist - to have chapters
then burn to DVD

I found that you cannot have multiple video clips in the same title with DVD Architect. Multiple clips are always treated as completely separate titles in that program whether you want it or not. What's more, you cannot add additional video clips (files) within the same title in DVDA.

And as far as what you've been trying to do, you were trying to link a master button on the main menu to another menu which has the "chapter" selections. In this case, the separate video clips will still be always treated as completely separate movies.

When I first used DVDA, I tried to do the exact same thing you tried to do. But after consistently getting results which were not to my desired result, I gave up and re-rendered a completely new video file from the original source files in the main Vegas program, making sure that I imported all of the original video clips that I would be using in the same movie title into the Vegas timeline and adding chapter markers before re-rendering to a DVDA-compliant MPEG-2 file and a separate PCM or AC3 audio file.

[Don Bloom]

If I understand your question correctly then the use of END ACTIONS should solve your problem.

[Sam Houchins II]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

If I understand your question correctly then the use of END ACTIONS should solve your problem.

It'd be interesting if that worked, Don, because like Randall, I thought seamless play only happened within a single video file, from chapter to chapter within that file. Whereas multiple independent files in a playlist always resulted in a pause between list elements.

While End Action allows automatically playing another item in the playlist, unfortunately I've not heard a solution to avoiding the dreaded pause between seperate files.

[Don Bloom]

Pretty much every DVD I do has numerous MPG clips that are connected with end actions and it plays thru seamlessly. Of course in most cases I use a fade out/fade in to the next chapter or clip but when I hit play movie it plays without pause.

Now if you have a long leadin (fade from black) then sure it's gong to seem like it's pausing but really isn't. Like I said I've done this not only for weddings but corporate events, seminars, even talking heads.

The only reason I could see it pausing is if for some reason it's hunting for the clip to play.
Maybe I'm wrong.

[Mike Kujbida]

Sigmund, I generally do most of my DVDs the way Randall has suggested and there's never a pause between chapters.
The only time I deviate is if I want to.
For example, I did a Tae Kwon Do series a few years ago that was a number of different techniques.
In this particular case, each one was a standalone unit so each could be rendered separately and be it's own chapter.
Even in this example though, I find it easier to put everything an a single Vegas timeline and render out with chapter markers.

[Edward Troxel]

Don, I'm betting you ARE seeing pauses - you just don't notice it because you've gone to black/silence.

Here's the bottom line: If you use multiple clips and string them together via End Actions - you WILL get pauses. The length of the pause will actually vary depending on the player you use. You get the pause because once the player gets to the end of the segment, it has to "seek" to the beginning of the next segment. However long that takes will determine the length of the pause.

If you want zero pauses, render to a SINGLE file. Then it will play straight through with zero pauses. You can still put in all the chapter points you want AND you can still play smaller sections of the file (you just need to add the big file again for each section you want to play separately).

[David Faust]

DVinfo

I've lurked on this forum for years waiting a question I am uniquely qualified to answer. (Actually, I find this forum a tremendous source of information and I would contribute more, but everybody posts dozens of useful answers before I get around to reading anything.)

Yes, the previous posts are correct: end actions and playlists will link together separate files, but they will remain separate titles on the DVD, so the time to load them depends on the DVD player. If you fade to black at the beginning and end of each title, it will work fine. If you need a seamless transition, it may not be to your liking.

Fortunately, DVDA offers a solution called a Compilation. You make it pretty much like a Playlist, but the files are merged together into a single title. To quote their manual:

In a video compilation, you create a series of videos that play sequentially. This sort of video compilation behaves much like a playlist, but it will be written to your disc as a single video title set. If you have a project with many short videos, this method can save you from rerendering and combining media.”
A chapter point will appear at the beginning of each file in the Compilation. Unfortunately, you cannot add or remove chapter points as you can with media on a timeline.

I have used this and it works fine if you can accept the limitation on chapter points.

And now for the shameless self-promotion: I need everyone to watch my silly little YouTube video because we are in a contest based on number of views. It is promoting an energy drink, but all you have to do is watch and enjoy (no salesman will call :-) ). Search YouTube for dude dog energy. Tell your friends, link to it in your blogs-we need the hits!

[Sam Houchins II]

well that's certainly interesting.
So it plays seemlessly then? cool!
i wonder if the individual files were originally rendered with their own chapter points in Vegas already, this would provide any additional chapters desired :-).
Thanks for the info, i'll have to try that out!

[David Faust]

Alas, the Compilation ignores any chapter points you create while rendering and does not alow you to add new ones.

I don't plan to use Compilations again because of that limitation, but it did save me in a project where I (for some crazy reason) editied and renedered every 3-5 minute scene separately.

[Sigmund Reboquio]

I will try end actions.
The reason why I want it chopped to chapters because
1. If you have a long clip, with pictures, and effects, it will take a long time to render those. So I render and chop the whole clip separately and hope to combine all of them in Play All option of my DVD. but if it is a continous story, the pauses and dvd reading annoys me.
2. Also, when you deliver a DVD to a client, it is good to have sub chapters as well as the Play all option.

I just hope End actions can help?by the way where can I find this?

[Mike Kujbida]

Sigmund, take a look at my (rather lengthy) response in the http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/what-hap...enu-based.html thread as I get into End Actions and a whole lot more.

[Zulqar Cheema]

There is a way of playing chapters separately so they look like individual clips and then use the same clip to play all.

See link for tutorial

Starting & Stopping using chapters on a long Clip

[Rochelle Morris]

okay - I'm a very slow learner.

I make individual movies for each chapter and have made a seperate page just for chapters. When I make a "Play List" and select all, it will run through each one simultaneously. But if I press next chapter and watch this chapter through, it stops at goes the 'chapters' page.

Is there anyway for this issue to be resolved? That is so that rather than stopping, it will proceed to the next chapter automatically.

thanks in advance

[Seth Bloombaum]

There are two methods for dealing with Chapters.

1) Do what you've been doing (indiv. movies for indiv. chapters). In DVDA, double-click the button for eg., Chapter 3. Find "End Action" in the media properties, it probably has "most recent menu" selected. Select instead "Chapter 4".

-or-

2) Render as one big movie. Create buttons for each chapter. The "one big movie" plays through to end without pauses between chapters.

2a) on your render out of Vegas, you can also drop markers on the timeline for chapters, check "save markers in media file" when you render, and, DVDA will automatically pick them up as chapters

2b) if you haven't done markers in Vegas, navigate into the media in DVDA, drop/name scene/chapter markers in DVDA's little timeline, then, right click on the big movie's entry in the navigation tree and select "insert scene selection menu"

I prefer #2a, easiest, quickest, fewer assets to handle at every stage. And using markers to spec chapters allows these decisions about chapter starts to be recorded during the editing.